


Gryphon's Landing

by KyleeTheShinyStealer



Series: Gryphon's Landing [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24012523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyleeTheShinyStealer/pseuds/KyleeTheShinyStealer
Summary: Rusted walls, needles, and pain. That was the only world 9-year-old Julietta Johnson had ever known. Her parents were scientists, working under an organization to create an enhanced individual, one who could rival even Iron Man. Julietta was the result of those experiments. She didn't ask for or want this life, but it was the only one she knew.Until suddenly, it wasn't.
Series: Gryphon's Landing [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1731817
Kudos: 1





	1. Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

The sound of machines beeping at a steady pace and a keyboard clicking under the pressure of fingers were the only things she could hear. These sounds were normal. It meant things were going normal. It meant that the pain had not started yet.

That was all Julietta knew in her young age. The metal walls around her were stained in spots with a dark red, but whether it was rust or blood she did not know. She only knew that this room is where the pain came, and then she was taken out to rest, and then put back for the pain to come again. All day, without fail.

The 8-year-old child looked on with wide eyes through the glass panel where two scientists were visible. Nneka and Carleton, she knew, but they never let her call them that. She called them ma’am and sir, or she received pain again. She hunched down at the thought, her baggy jacket tightening on her body as her muscles tensed.

“Alright Julietta,” Nneka said, a wide grin plastered to her face. She always held that grin before the pain came. As if she was trying to be friendly, to say everything would be okay. Julietta desperately wanted to believe that smile, but she knew she couldn’t. She couldn’t trust these people whom she knew as her parents.

Her mother spoke again. “Are you ready?”

Julietta simply nodded, knowing saying no would make her pain worse. Nneka smiled wider as she entered the room, a syringe in hand. “Good. Now, this will only hurt a little.”

It was a lie.

As soon as the syringe was injected into her skin, Julietta let out a scream. The contents of the vial felt like acid, burning away at her flesh and blood. Nneka didn’t stop, not until the entirety of the purple liquid had been injected.

Julietta still cried for a few minutes after the needle was removed and a cloth had been placed on her arm to soak the stray blood drops. Her mother had long since left the room, instead conversing with her father on the other side of the glass. Julietta couldn’t hear exactly what was being said- the wall muffled their voices- but she knew it was about her, and whatever the needle had done to her. A few minutes after, her father entered the room, a sheet of metal in his hand.

“Okay, Julietta,” he smiled. It seemed so kind, so sincere. She refused to believe it.

He placed the metal in front of her, the smile never falling from his face. “I want you to take this,” he began, “And squeeze it as hard as you can.”

Julietta didn’t speak as she picked up the metal, taking a deep breath before squeezing. The metal bent between her hands like rubber.

“Incredible…” Carleton whispered as he watched. He nodded at his daughter, the smile on his face once more. “Thank you, sweetie,” He said, taking the bent metal back and exiting the room. The two adults conversed for a few moments more before Julietta finally let her impatience get the better of her. “Can I go now?” She snapped. She instantly regretted it as her mother turned on her with a fierce glare. 

The two stared at each other for a tense moment before her mother finally took a deep breath. “Fine.” She relented, opening the door with a push of a button. Julietta leapt off the table easily, quickly running from the room without looking back.

\---

“They’re just… so mean!” Julietta complained as she threw a pebble at the wall. A small rat scampered out of the way as it clattered to the ground beside it. “They just give me all these shots, saying it’s medicine, but it hurts so bad!”

The rat curled up beside the child, seemingly ignoring her words, but its small ears were pricked towards her. Julietta sighed as she gently stroked the rat. “Yeah, I know.” She said sadly. She fell silent for a moment before standing up suddenly, which startled the rat as it leapt up, hissing.

“Louie, I just remembered!” She exclaimed, looking at the rodent. “Today’s May 21st! You know what that means?”

The rat did not respond.

“Tomorrow is my birthday!” Julietta said with a smile. “I’m gonna be 9 years old!”

Her parents never really celebrated her birthday, but she always snuck a little extra food from their small kitchen as a gift to herself, and the two of them were nice enough at least to not give her any shots on that one day. A whole day with no pain! She thought.

Giving her friend one last pat, she turned and headed for the kitchen. It looked almost exactly the same as every other room in their home- discolored metal walls, a solid stone floor and ceiling, and a sparse amount of furniture. A fridge sat on the far wall in the corner, and a dirty sink beside it, while to her right was a table just big enough for her and her parents. She slowly walked towards the fridge, making sure her parents were not around should they decide to run another of their “tests.”

She was thankful when neither adult showed, and grabbed a small bit of food from the fridge for her dinner. The fridge was emptier than usual, she noticed, but did not give it any more thought as she closed the door. Her parents probably just needed to buy more food. Where they got it from, she had no idea- they’d never let her out of the building. But they got it, and that’s what mattered.

She quickly wolfed down the food, licking her lips as she finished, before throwing away the paper plate and running to her room. She closed the door as softly as she could to avoid making noise before walking towards her small dresser, taking out a pair of pajamas. She removed the baggy hoodie she was wearing and stretched. And something stretched behind her too.

A pair of large, feathery wings spread to their full length behind her as she reached her arms towards the ceiling. Light brown at the top and fading to white towards the bottom- exactly like that of a barn owl. Her parents always told her she had been born with them, a result of some mutation while she was forming, but she knew better. She had heard them talking late one night.

They had experimented on her before she had even been born, injecting the DNA of other animals into her own cells. For what purpose, she had never known, but she had learned to live with it. At the very least, the tests made her fast and strong, and she assumed at least that it was for some kind of reason.

Her thoughts reached a stop as she glanced at her bed, seeing her rat friend curled up there, and smiled. “Hello, Louie,” She said warmly, curling up under the covers and patting him on the head. He gave a small twitch at her touch, but nothing more. With nothing left to say, the young girl turned over and slowly fell asleep.

\---

Clattering from the kitchen awoke Julietta from her sleep. She sat up in bed quickly, looking towards the closed door. Nneka and Carleton hadn’t done any tests on her in almost a week and a half, she thought. Maybe they were coming now for one?

With a yawn and a stretch, she tossed the covers off of herself and groggily got out of bed. She didn’t bother fixing her hair- she knew it was a mess- before cautiously opening her door. She was greeted to an utter disaster. Pots and pans were strewn about, paper plates littered the floor, and plastic forks and spoons were scattered in a messy trail towards the kitchen. Eyes wide and body now awake with fear, the 9-year-old slowly approached the room, treading lightly and making sure not to step on the various utensils on the floor. 

The kitchen was even more of a mess than the hall had been, with chairs knocked over and the contents of the countertop having been thrown against the wall. Broken glass littered the floor, adding to the danger. Julietta heard her parents voices coming from their room just beyond the kitchen, and carefully picked her way across the room, the voices growing louder with each step she took. Her wings twitched with anxiety, but she forced them to lie flat as she peeked around the corner, seeing the two of them through the crack of their door.

“Gone! All of it!” Nneka shouted.

“Honey, please, calm dow-”

“No, don’t TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, CARLETON!” The fury with which her mom spoke startled Julietta, and she focused harder to listen. Just what was happening?

“We lost all of our funding! Without HYDRA’s help, we have no money, and now we have no food, and we’re WANTED CRIMINALS! You think we can just go strolling into any old grocery store and buy some fresh produce?”

Carleton placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder, his eyes pleading. “Please, Nneka, I know it looks bad, but we’ll find a way, okay?” He said softly. “We just need a plan.”

“You said that nine years ago when our first lab was destroyed, and look where we are now!” Nneka responded, eyes brimming with tears. “We have a freak child who only exists for our experiments, we live in hiding in a fake research center in the middle of California, and, oh yeah, WE NO LONGER HAVE FOOD OR FUNDING!” She screamed.

Julietta leaned back as her mom suddenly stormed towards the door. Spreading her wings, she shakily flapped them and rose into the air, barely avoiding slamming into the wall as she entered her room once more and dove onto her bed, pretending to be asleep. Her mother took no notice of her as she passed her room, continuing on to the testing areas. Probably to experiment more on some of the rats and lizards they’d collected, she assumed. It always seemed to destress her mother, causing other beings pain. Julietta sighed and rolled over, glancing at Louie, who was looking at her fearfully after her sudden dive bomb had awoken him.

“Sorry about that, Louie,” She said softly, patting the rats head. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

She began to absentmindedly pet the rodent as she stared at the door, her thoughts racing. It struck her suddenly as she realized why they’d been so low on food. So we’re out of food? And money? She thought grimly. Well… then what do we do?

The child had no answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late upload! Memorial Day was a busy day for me with family over and I didn't get the chance to upload.


	2. Chapter 2 - Feeding Frenzy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Without food, Julietta's parents turn to other sources of sustenance. Just how much longer can Julietta last?

It had been ten days since Julietta had overheard her parents. Ten long, brutal, hungry days. Her parents had resorted to eating their rats and lizards they’d caught, and it wasn’t long before Louie had seemingly vanished. Julietta’s heart hoped he had escaped and run off, but her brain knew better.

With a heavy sigh, Julietta forced herself to rise from bed. Her stomach growled loudly, but she gave no answer to its plea. She refused to eat any of the animals in the lab. They were her friends, after all. She would never forgive herself if she brought harm to one of them.

Not that her parents would give her anything anyways. They didn’t offer her a single scrap of food, hoarding it all between the two of them.

Julietta’s stomach groaned painfully once more, but she did her best to push the hunger out of her mind as she changed out of her pajamas. She put on a simple white t-shirt, a pair of grey leggings, and her usual grey hoodie, hiding her wings.

As she left her bedroom, she could hear her parents talking in hushed whispers from the kitchen. Slowly, ever so slowly, Julietta entered the kitchen, reaching a hand out for the fridge as she approached. 

“There’s nothing there,” Her mother hissed to her, and the child stopped in her tracks.

“O-Oh. Okay,” She said quietly. Her mother had been dangerously irritable since they’d lost their food supply, and took every chance to take it out on her daughter. “I’ll go back to my room then,” She turned to walk out, but was interrupted by her father’s arm blocking her path. “Come on, Julietta, why not sit with us.” He said gently, with a wide smile.

Too gentle. Too wide.

Julietta glanced between both adults, all of her instincts screaming to run. Something was wrong… Something was very wrong. But where could she hide? There was nowhere in the lab they wouldn’t find her.

Unless… I escaped. The thought crossed her mind, and as she stared at the predatory grins on her parents faces, she was compelled to follow it. But I don’t even know where the exit is... With a deep breath, she nodded and took the seat between her mother and father.

The three sat in silence for a moment before Carleton finally spoke up. “Julietta, darling,” He said slowly. “You’ve probably noticed by now, we… don’t have any food left.”

Julietta nodded wordlessly.

When he received no verbal interruptions, he continued. “We have decided, since we are out of food, we need to find a new source until we can get some more.” He spoke slowly and carefully, as if each word labored him.

“A-And?” Julietta asked hesitantly.

“Oh, you’re taking too long!” Nneka suddenly shouted, her arm raising into the air. “Let’s just eat her now!” Clutched in her hand was a knife, which was plunged downwards.

Straight at Julietta’s shoulder.

A terrified scream escaped from her mouth as the knife hit her skin, the pain shooting through her entire body. Only… it didn’t. It felt no worse than a paper cut.

She opened her eyes and glanced over to see her mother’s shocked face, and upon seeing the knife, her expression was mirrored by her daughter. The knife had bent against Julietta’s skin. There was nothing but a scratch upon her shoulder.

Carleton’s eyes went wide as he glanced between the two of them, and he stood suddenly, ready to jump in to stop should something else go wrong. 

A loud bang from the hallway broke Julietta’s focus from the knife as she looked towards the source of the noise. Scratching, whining noises echoed through the lab, until…

Four multi colored blurs raced into the kitchen, snarling and growling ferociously.

“A-Are those… wolves?!” Julietta was too shocked to speak as the lead wolf leapt straight at her. Julietta ducked to avoid it on instinct, but realized it was in vain anyways, as the wolf was not headed for her. It tackled Nneka, baring its teeth as it began to claw and bite at her face. Nneka screeched in pain as her blood began to cover the stone floor. Another wolf joined in, biting any part of the woman it could, be it leg, arm, or stomach.

Carleton wasn’t faring much better as another wolf pounced on him, bringing him down without a fight as the fourth wolf tore at his stomach. In mere minutes, both adults were dead, and a pool of blood slowly grew below them.

The lead wolf turned to Julietta, its muzzle and chest covered in the blood of the young girl’s mother. Julietta stared into the wolf’s eyes, and felt no fear. She knew, somehow, that these wolves were not here to hurt her.

They had come to save her.

With a nod of understanding, Julietta slowly climbed from her chair to the wolf’s back. The wolf gave a single bark to its packmates before leading them off, leaping from the staircase that had appeared in the hallway. A hidden entrance, of course! Julietta thought. That’s why she’d never known how to escape.

As they walked through the much cleaner-looking hallways of the main floor and pushed their way out the doors, and as the light of the sun shone on her for the first time in her life, Julietta was amazed by the beauty that surrounded her. Massive trees as tall as she could see, grass growing up to the wolves bellies, and birds fluttering through the sky without a care in the world. It was so vibrant, so full of color, so different from the home she had been trapped in for the last nine years. 

Julietta’s eyes were wide as she watched her surroundings pass by, the wolf she was riding seemily heading in a specific direction. Where, she didn’t know, but she knew wherever it was, it would be somewhere safer than her old home.

She was free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! Thanks so much for all the reads so far guys <3 The series will continue updating every monday!


	3. Chapter 3 - Pack, Pack, Kill, Kill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new home also means new challenges for Julietta.

Julietta must have fallen asleep at some point, for her eyes opened and she yawned as her ride came to a sudden stop. A quick glance told her they were far from the hilltop containing her old home- there were few trees, instead being a field of rolling hills with sparse bushes and small cave openings into the ground.

The wolf slowed as they came to a small dip in the ground. A single, massive tree stood near the end of it, with a tangled knot of roots at the bottom. There were a few roots that formed an opening, and Julietta had to squint to see through the darkness as the lead wolf carried her in. The other wolves settled in other places around the hollow, aside from one other wolf, slightly larger than the one Julietta rode, who followed the leader in.

The lead wolf crouched as she reached the inside of the root den, allowing Julietta to easily hop off of her back. The child gave a smile to her, patting her neck, and the wolf licked her face before standing once more and heading out. The second wolf stayed behind, eyeing Julietta warily before curling up on the far side of the den. Julietta sat opposite to him, watching as he placed his head on his paws and stared out the entrance.

He must be waiting for her to come back, Julietta thought, turning as she heard the sound of pawsteps. Several sets of paws were smacking the ground, rather quickly. She watched as a small bundle of fur suddenly tumbled into the den, followed by two more, and then the she-wolf behind them. In her jaw, she carried a chunk of meat, but from what animal Julietta couldn’t tell. All she knew was she wanted it, and her stomach gave a growl of agreement. She had hardly eaten in days, after all.

The she-wolf chewed up a chunk of the meat and spat it in a glob for her pups before picking up the chunk that had been left, dropping it in front of Julietta. Julietta’s eyes widened as she looked up at the wolf, who glanced between the meat and the child. Slowly, Julietta picked up the meat, eyeing it warily. “I… I can’t eat it raw,” She stammered softly. “It might make me sick.”

The wolf tilted her head slightly, nosing the meat in her hand closer to her mouth. Julietta sighed as her stomach rumbled again. Well… at the very least, it’s better than starving, She thought, taking a small bite of the meat. It was flavorless and had a weird, mushy texture, but it was better than nothing. The she-wolf perked up as she ate, and so Julietta took another bite, larger this time. After a few short minutes, the meat was gone, aside from the small bit of skin and brown fur that had been hanging to the chunk.

As soon as she had forced down the last bit of the food, the wolf took the skin and fur, dropping it at her pups’ paws, who began to batter it to each other playfully. Julietta smiled as she watched, eyes glittering. This is how a real family is, She thought.

The pelt suddenly was batted towards her, bumping against her leg. The pups bounded after it joyfully, but upon realizing Julietta was there, skidded to a stop, looking up at her curiously. They glanced back to their mother for a moment, then turned and bounded once more towards the 9-year-old.

Julietta collapsed in a pile of fur and giggles, the pups all eagerly sniffing at her and pressing their wet noses against her face. After a few minutes of being pinned beneath the massive puppies, she eventually was able to force herself into a sitting position, gasping for air and giggling.

One of the pups, solid black aside from a dark grey face and belly, dropped the pelt in her lap, looking at her hopefully. His sister, the light grey one with a dark grey back, and brother, the white one with a grey head and legs, ran up beside him, all three of them giving her puppy dog eyes.

“Alright, alright!” Julietta laughed. Rearing her arm back, she tossed the pelt to the far side of the den, and the pups clumsily ran after it. Before they could even reach it though, the sister lost her footing, slipping on the loose dirt and knocking over her white-furred brother. The darkest pup managed to charge ahead, snapping up the pelt and holding his chin in the air triumphantly.

Julietta laughed and made a whistling noise, getting the pups attention. The two fallen ones scrambled to their feet, following their victorious brother as he ran ahead and dropped the pelt in Julietta’s lap once more.

The four of them played fetch for what felt like hours. The pups’ seemingly endless energy had to run out at some point, and that point was the early evening, when they curled up against their mothers belly and were soon snoring softly. Julietta smiled as she watched them. They’re so cute… she thought to herself. But her mind was soon replaced with more sobering thoughts.

What now?

It was a loaded question. She couldn’t simply go back to her old home- she had no food, no parents, and that place was filled with bad memories. Was there another place nearby she could go? Somewhere with more people? But she pushed that thought away too. Her parents had always said she was different, abnormal. That her wings and her blood was special and had to be hidden from other people, or she’d be taken away and possibly killed. As much as she didn’t like her now dead parents, she couldn’t run the risk that they had been right.

So… Do I just stay here? She thought. The she-wolf, asleep beside her mate and pups, seemed to be taking care of her for now. She wasn’t sure how long it would last, but… I might as well stay here until I can figure out what next. She decided. 

She felt a yawn tugging at her jaws, and released it as she stretched. Her muscles were stiff from having sat for so long, and she slowly crawled towards the sleeping pile of wolves. The father wolf opened one eye, his bright blue gaze watching her for a moment, before he gently lifted his head and pointed his nose beside him. Julietta smiled and made her way to him, laying down against his flank. He gave her head a soft lick, laying his fluffy tail over her as he lowered his head back against his paws.

Julietta easily fell asleep to the gentle sound of wolves breathing.  
\---  
A gentle wind rustled the trees above as two wolves sat inside the hollow, ears pricked for danger. A swooping sound from above caught their attention, and they tilted their heads skywards, only to relax as they saw who was landing in camp.

Julietta folded her wings as she came to a soft landing near the two of them, dropping several rabbits she had been carrying. She patted the two watch wolves on the head, and they greeted her with a happy lick. “Chocolate, Amber,” She smiled at the two of them. Walking towards the giant tree, she dropped the rabbits on top of a small pile near the roots. The pile last night had had half a deer carcass and a few other rabbits on it as well, but now was empty after the wolves had eaten. As she added the prey to the pile, a soft bark caught her attention, and she turned to see Shephard and Regal enter the camp, followed by Smokey, Coal and Scorch. The three pups had grown in the last four and a half years- they could hardly be called pups anymore. Their pelts were fully grown in, and their muscles rippled under their thick fur.

Their parents, on the other hand, had grown noticeably older. Their muzzles had hints of grey, and they weren’t exactly at peak performance anymore.

That clearly didn’t stop them from hunting, however, as their mother, Shepherd, carried a fox carcass while their father, Regal, carried another rabbit. Their children behind them dragged a deer carcass, working together to carry it across the hollow and drop it near the rabbits Julietta had deposited.

“Nice work, you three!” She smiled. The siblings barked happily and leapt on her, showering her in playful kisses. “Alright, alright!” She laughed, the three backing up as she caught her breath. “Man, you guys are too big to keep doing that,” She chuckled, rubbing her ribcage where one of them had stepped a bit too hard. “I love you mutts.”

The three barked in reply before giving her one last lick, then turned towards their mother as she gave a bark. Julietta watched as Shepherd pulled out the deer carcass, her mate coming up beside her as they began to eat. The two of them ate a third of the carcass before stepping back, allowing their pups to finish it off. The three of them tore into it eagerly, finishing it off until there wasn’t a single scrap of meat on the bones. Then it was Julietta’s turn. Approaching the pile, Julietta grabbed a rabbit from the top, heading to the side of camp where a small ring of rocks was set. She set the rabbit aside and gripped a small branch in her hand, placing dry pine straw atop a piece of bark inside the circle and the branch upright on top. As she spun the branch between her hands, it began to heat up until the dry pine straw suddenly came to life in flames.

Acting quickly, Julietta placed a few large leaves on the pile, then a few twigs, gradually building up the flame. Once it was high enough, she grabbed a sharp rock, beginning to slice the rabbit into smaller pieces before spearing them onto a sharpened stick and holding them over the fire. The meat slowly cooked until it was a dark brown, which she gulped down greedily. She repeated the cooking with more and more chunks until she had finished the rabbit, tossing the bones beside the empty deer carcass to be buried later. Her stomach comfortably full, she stood and stretched herself, her wings extending to full length.

The wolves weren’t the only ones who had grown. Julietta had gone from a skinny, starving 9-year-old, to a wide set muscled teen at 16 years old. Her wings had grown as well, now easily reaching a 14 foot wingspan. 

She had quickly grown out of the clothing she had as a child. Her leggings, luckily, stretched, though they were tight and had holes. Her hoodie fared no better, but it had been baggy when she owned it, enough so that it fit a little too snugly around her torso. She sighed as she heard the sound of the fabric stretching. She needed new clothes soon, but where she would get them, she had no idea.

She shook her head to force the thought from her mind. She could cross that bridge when she came to it. As a few bones in her back popped, she became aware of a sound. She couldn’t tell quite what it was, but it was something. As she listened closely, she began to make out what it was, something she hadn’t heard in a long time.

Voices. Human voices.

She instantly bared her teeth, letting out an animal-like snarl. The other wolves turned to her, ears pricked. With one wing, she gestured to where the sound was coming from, then gave a few flaps and took off, staying low to the ground and skimming the grass. The pack raced behind her, easily keeping up as she made sure to fly slow enough for them to stay on pace. She came to a slow stop amidst a copse of bushes, crouching low and looking towards the open field.

Two humans were slowly trekking across, with two metal rods in hand. Each human wore clothing that camouflage them with their surroundings from a distance. But nothing escaped Julietta’s eagle-eyed vision.

She opened her mouth and let out a low barking noise, alerting her packmates, and brushed her wings to either side of her body. The wolves instantly fanned out, surrounding the humans on all sides but behind.

She allowed her leader to give the command.

With a howl, Shepherd leapt over a bush and raced forward. The rest of the pack followed suit, each one making a mad dash for the humans.

The two humans looked with wide eyes, then fumbled with the metal rod. A sickening bang echoed through the air, startling Julietta as she ran. She froze for a second as dirt flew up from beside Shepherd. Whatever the metal rod had done, it damaged whatever it hit.

And they were aimed at her pack.

Giving a violent snarl of fury, Julietta leapt towards the humans, diving for the legs. Another loud bang pierced the air, and with it, the yelp of a wolf. Chocolate came to a stumbling stop as he collapsed on the ground, his eyes wide with fear. It was the last expression his face would have. Blood dripped from a hole in the side of his head.

Screaming in rage, Julietta clawed at the man’s legs, knocking him down. She leapt, opening her jaws wide to bite down on his throat, but he managed to throw her to the side. She scrambled to her feet once more, her wings spread and body low as she began to circle the humans.

By now, the other wolves were snarling and biting at the human she had knocked down. Amber’s bright yellow eyes glowed with vengeance as she leapt at the humans’ head, but he smacked her to the side with the handle of the metal. The brown and black wolf gave a yelp as she rolled away, blood coming from a newly formed gash on the side of her head.

Scorch and Smokey howled angrily before charging once more, leaping into the air in perfect sync and landing atop the massive man. His ribs cracked under their combined force, and he roared in pain, flailing helplessly as he tried to escape the weight of the canines on top of him. Scorch’s jaws sank into his throat, and Smokey’s claws tore into his shirt and chest.

The man’s partner, hearing his pleas for help, turned and aimed the metal rod at the pack. Two loud bangs rang out, followed by two yelps of pain as Scorch and Smokey fell to the ground, flanks unmoving.

“NO!” Julietta screamed, throwing herself forward and tackling the rod from her opponents grip. She expected the weapon to go flying out of his hand, but to her surprise and anger, it was attached around his neck and shoulder by a strap. The man hissed in pain, holding his arm close. As he saw Julietta rushing towards him once more, his eyes widened.

“Y-You have win-” but he didn’t get to finish as she gave a flap of her wings, moving with enough force to deliver a violent headbutt to his stomach. His jacket buttons tore and broke as he flew backwards a few feet, and slammed the ground hard. He gasped for air as he rolled to his knees, clutching his stomach with one arm as he held himself up with the other.

“You’ll die for that!” Julietta raged as she landed beside the man, drawing up her leg and kicking him in the side. He fell over with a grunt, eyes wide.

Coal suddenly appeared beside her, and in one massive leap, pinned the man down. He wrestled with the young wolf for a moment as Julietta ran towards him, prepared to deliver a stomp to his face. His flailing hand found purchase on the handle of the metal rod, and without wasting a second, the man placed the end of it on Coal’s chest and squeezed.

The bang hurt her ears this close, but the sight of the last sibling collapsing filled her with pure, unadulterated rage. Julietta flapped her wings as she leapt and gained height, then came down with her full weight on to the man’s face. His nose gave a crack as it was broken, blood flowing freely into his mouth. He spat the blood out, and as Julietta pulled up her foot to stomp once more, he grabbed it with a massive hand and shoved, causing the teen to lose her balance and land on her back beside him. 

He aimed the gun at her head, spitting out more blood as he prepared to squeeze.

Regal suddenly leapt forward, clamping his jaws around the end of the rod as the man fired. The wolf went limp instantly as the metal tore through the back of his throat and slammed the earth just beside her head- the wolf’s weight had thrown off the man’s aim. 

“Regal!” Julietta shouted, her face hardening. With the man distracted kicking the wolf to the side, she leapt up, using her wing to smack his face and distract him as she dove for his legs, knocking him down once more. Amber and Shepherd appeared on either side of her, growling at the man angrily before leaping at the same time.

Julietta prepared to leap as well when another shot filled the air, and Amber fell to the side. It hadn’t come from the man they were fighting- the bloodied man on the ground held the metal rod in his shaking hands. Blood poured from his throat, and he gave one last heaving breath before his arm dropped, and his breathing came to a stop.

Taking a running start, Julietta flew low to the ground, delivering a swift uppercut to the living man’s jaw. His body reeled backwards, and Shepherd took advantage of his lack of balance to grab his pants in her jaw, making him fall and slam the back of his head against a stone. He growled in pain as blood began to drip down, but his eyes were wide as Shepherd approached him slowly, growling. He fumbled for his weapon, aiming just as the wolf leapt.

Time seemed to move in slow motion. Julietta was just landing as she turned, watching her adopted mother pouncing for the man’s throat. A crack echoed through the forest.

Shepherd never reached her target.

“Shepherd!” Julietta screamed, diving down to the wolf. Realizing he was injured and outmatched, the man quickly turned tail, fleeing back into the woods. Julietta didn’t notice though- in her hands, she cradled the slowly dying body of the wolf who had saved her life so many years ago.

“Shepherd… no…” She said softly, her eyes beginning to tear up. The wolf stirred slightly, her head lifting just enough to lick her adopted daughter’s cheek.

“I can’t… I can’t leave you,” Julietta insisted. “You’re gonna be okay, please, just hang in there!”

The she-wolf closed her eyes one last time, and they did not open again.

Julietta lifted her head, looking around the clearing. One dead man, seven dead wolves. With a hiss of anger, Julietta quickly picked up Shepherd’s body. It may have been large, but she was strong.

It took seven trips. Back and forth, clearing to camp, but by sunrise, she had gathered all the wolves into a pile in the center of camp, logs and twigs scattered on top of them.

“My family…” She choked out, tears falling down her cheeks. She grabbed her nearby branch, starting a fire as quickly as she could before gently tossing the flaming pine on to the pile. Slowly, ever so slowly, the flames singed the wolves pelts. A fire blazed within the hour, and soon, nothing remained but ashes and a few bones. Julietta turned, wiping her tears on the sleeve of her hoodie before spreading her wings once more, gliding through the trees to the clearing one last time.

The man did not deserve a proper burial, but he had his uses.

After inspection, Juliettal found his pants hadn’t been too torn up in the fight, with only a few holes, as her packmates had been aiming for his upper body. She quickly took the pants from his corpse, draping it over her shoulder. His jacket miraculously survived as well, aside from some bite marks in his arms. The buttons had broken when the wolves tore at his chest, leaving it to fall to the sides and expose his shirt and chest. Rolling the man over with a grunt, Julietta took the jacket from his body and spread her wings once more, taking flight towards a clearing she knew so well.

Landing beside the small stream, she couldn’t help but narrow her eyes as she looked around. Buried behind the newly sprouting trees was the remains of her old home. It was covered in ivy and dirt, the roof looking to have caved in a few places. She hadn’t set foot in there since she had been saved, and today would not change that.

Kneeling down, Julietta began scrubbing the bloodstains off of the clothing, using the cool water from the stream to wash it away. It was well past sunrise when she had finished, and giving it a quick shake and wring out, she donned the pants and tied the jacked around her waist, and wasted no time in taking flight. She hovered in the air for a moment, looking around to all sides of her.

In every direction, on the distant horizon, were human cities and buildings. They were mostly obscured by fog, but still just visible. Julietta cursed her luck- there was no way she could avoid detection if she flew above the cities. She had to stay under cover, she couldn’t be caught, which meant she needed to hide her wings and walk through the cities. Shaking her head, she turned towards the nearest city, leaning forward and flapping her wings hard, speeding in its direction.

Her family was dead. Her life was shattered. It was time to find a new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes the title of this chapter is a warriors reference because i enjoy my battle cats dammit


	4. Chapter 4 - You Know Where The City Is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julietta must find a new home after the death of her pack. But the city is a dangerous place.

The first thing Julietta noticed as she neared the city--it was dirty. The air, the trees, the buildings, even from a distance it was all dirty.

Slowing down near the outskirts of the city, she gently touched down behind what seemed to be an old building. It was run down, dirtier than the others, with vines growing on the walls. Clearly whoever lived here didn’t have the time, energy, or money to keep it well maintained.

She untied the oversized jacked from her waist and threw it over her shoulders, covering her wings. It was baggy enough to hide them, though she had to force them down in an uncomfortable position to make it look passable. After tucking her bottom feathers under the jacket to hide them, she brushed her short hair out of her eyes and stepped out from behind the building, making her way towards the street. Just find a good shelter, she told herself. Find a place to lay low tonight, and keep on moving.

The city was louder than she’d been expecting. Her head ached as she walked past the crowds of people, heading further and further into the city. Multiple times, she ducked into allyways to see if there was some kind of shelter, but every time, she was met with disappointment. Nothing dry, or safe, or sheltered. As she ducked into another alleyway, her heart beginning to sink as she prepared herself for disappointment yet again, her eyes widened as she came into a small opening. Above her, the balconies of a few peoples apartment rooms covered the top of the alleyway, and a few cardboard boxes were thrown aside against the wall in a messy stack. She sighed with relief as she strode across the alley to the boxes.

Perfect, She thought as she grabbed a few, taking the largest to unfold and stack into one larger box. This should work as a temporary shelter for now.

It was nearing sunset by the time Julietta had made a good shelter for herself in the alleyway. Curling her knees close to her chest and leaning against the wall, she took a deep breath, hating how the dirty air clawed at her lungs. First priority- find somewhere cleaner to make a new home. She noted to herself. 

She closed her eyes and took shallow breaths, willing her lungs to stop aching from the polluted air. Not just her lungs, though- her legs, her arms, everything hurt from the fight and from walking through the city for so long. She slowly laid her head down on the cardboard, curling herself up as she closed her eyes.

Sleep did not come easy. The sound of cars racing past, horns honking, and people on the balconies talking loudly to each other collected into a deafening cacophony of noises to the young teen, who was used to sleeping in the quiet forest with her packmates around her.

My packmates… She let out a breath as she was reminded, once again, of their deaths. She hadn’t slept alone in four years. She always had a warm, furry body pressing against her, warding off the cold night chill and helping her feel safe.

But now, there was nobody. Now, Julietta was cold, alone, and very, very afraid.  
\---  
Julietta hadn’t felt this hungry in years. Every step sent sharp pains through her stomach, highlighting the hunger that consumed her. It had been days since she’d had a good meal- the city had not been kind. She was lucky to get a decent meal a day, and was forced to dig through trash for any scraps she could manage.

I feel like some stray dog, She thought to herself as she walked through the city, heading back towards her shelter. I need to find a better source of food.

She turned down the alley, head down as she protected her eyes from the rain that was streaming down from the sky. She made her way behind the buildings, looking at every open trash can and dumpster she passed in hopes that there would be food.

The sound of footsteps caught her attention, and she looked up just in time to see a figure vanishing around a building. Eyes narrowed, Julietta followed.

As she came around the turn, she was greeted to… a dead end.

What? She thought. Where… where’d they g- Her thoughts were cut off as someone grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around. Julietta was taken by surprise, unable to raise her arms fast enough to block the punch to the side of her head.

Stumbling backwards, Julietta gave an animal-like growl as she looked to her attacker. Their face was covered in a mask, and they wore gloves and long clothing, so she wasn’t able to see much else of them.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, kid.” Their voice was deep and stone cold. 

“I don’t know what you want,” Julietta hissed back. “But you’re going to pay for that punch.”

The man let out a laugh as he reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small metal device.

Another gun… Julietta had learned the name of the weapon in the last few days of time in the city. This gun wasn’t as big as the one the hunters had, but she knew not to underestimate it, or its holder.

“One last chance,” The man said. “Whatever money you have- give it.”

Julietta simply narrowed her eyes further, setting her feet as she prepared to dodge.

“Have it your way!” The man raised the gun, pulling the trigger as soon as his hand was aligned. Julietta wasted no time in leaping to the side kicking off a wall and tackling the man to the side. He gave a grunt of surprise as he lost his balance, his shoulder hitting the pavement heavily.

Julietta gripped the man’s hand, wrestling the gun out of his grip and kicking it to the side. With a grunt of effort, the man rolled over and grabbed Julietta’s shoulders, throwing her off of him. Julietta rolled across the ground, forcing herself up just as the man picked the gun up once more, shooting it at her shoulder.

The bullet tore through her hoodie and shirt… and then stopped. It didn’t even break her skin, but it damn sure hurt.

That’s gonna leave a bruise, She thought to herself, rolling her eyes as she glared at the man once more.

The masked man took a step back when he realized the bullet had done no damage. “What the hell…” He muttered, pointing the gun and firing two more shots.

Both bullets simply bounced off of Julietta’s skin.

The man was visibly afraid as Julietta simply walked closer, her teeth bared and a guttural growl rising in her throat. The man took a few more steps back until his back hit the wall of a building- there was nowhere left to go.

With one leap, Julietta lunged forward, grabbing the man’s hoodie in her fist. She pulled him forward, only to shove back, bashing his head against the wall. And then she did it again. And again. Over and over, the man roared in pain, but tried as he might, he couldn’t shake the girl off.

As soon as it started, it was over. The man hung limp in Julietta’s grasp, and she dropped him as if he was a bag of garbage. He fell to the ground, the back of his head oozing blood, which his mask soaked up, and his chest stirring faintly.

Julietta stared down at the man for a moment in disgust before turning away, burying her hands in her pockets to hide the blood on them. As she came around the corner of a building, she nearly ran into two more people, and stepped back quickly. She immediately put her hands up, still on edge and prepared to fight.

“Hey, woah, easy there,” One of them said, stepping back with his hands up. “We aren’t gonna hurt you.”

Julietta said nothing, eyes narrowed and hands still raised.

The second person, this one a girl, stepped forward beside the first. “We want to help you,” She said softly. “My name is Marcie, and this is Lucas,” She pointed to the boy beside her. “What’s your name?”

Upon closer look, Julietta noticed neither of them seemed to have any weapons. Their body language was relaxed--they didn’t seem intent on attacking. She slowly lowered her hands, eyes still narrowed.

“Julietta,” She said cautiously. 

“Well, Julietta, that fight back there was quite impressive.” Lucas said gently. “You sure know how to handle yourself.”

“And?”

Lucas seemed to pause at that, and Julietta took the chance to continue. “Look, I don’t know who you two are, but I’m in no mood to sit and chat. I actually have places to be,” She shoved past them, but Lucas’s voice stopped her.

“Like your box shelter?”

She whirled around on them, her brow furrowing. “Have you been spying on me?”

The two looked to each other for a second before Marcie spoke. “Yeah, we have.” She admitted. “But for good reason!” She added as he saw Julietta tense up.

Julietta narrowed her eyes, but said nothing, allowing them to continue.

“Me and Marcie here,” Lucas said slowly, “Run a gang called the Black Streets.” He explained. “But it’s not the kind of gang that this city is known for.”

“And what kind is that?” Julietta asked.

Marcie answered this time. “Oakland has a lot of violent gangs- robbers, murderers, rapists. But not us,” She said, a hint of pride in her voice. “The Black Streets don’t do that kind of stuff, at least not unless we need to. We’re really just a group of kids who were kicked out. Abused. Left on the streets.”

“My older brother formed this gang about five years ago,” Lucas said. “He was killed by another gang, the Royals, a few months back, and I took charge.”

Julietta tilted her head slightly in confusion. “So why are you telling me all this?” She demanded.

“We wanted to invite you to join us,” Lucas said. “You’re a kid like us, living on the streets with little food or shelter. We can’t stand to see that, we want to help.” He smiled gently, stepping closer to her. “With us, you’d be protected from attackers like that,” He gestured to the unconscious masked man nearby. “We all work together to feed and defend each other, and we have plenty of shelter.”

“So… Like a wolf pack then?” Julietta asked slowly.

“If that’s how you understand it, then yes. It’s exactly like a wolf pack.”

Julietta hesitated for a few seconds. A pack of humans in the city… It was better than her current situation. And neither of these kids seemed to have ill intent.

And if they did, she’d just give them the same treatment she gave her last attacker.

With a nod, Julietta faced them both. “Alright. I’m in.”


	5. Chapter 5 - Black Streets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julietta joins the Black Streets.

Lucas and Marcie led Julietta down a series of alleyways and streets, twisting and turning through the city as if they had lived there their whole lives- which, likely, they had. After about twenty minutes of silent walking, the three of them came to the shoreline of a massive river, lined with factories and warehouses.

“Welcome,” Lucas said, “To the Black Streets’ home.” He gestured to an abandoned factory nearby. It was cleaner than the others around it, as if it was still being used by someone, but was still dirty in places. But still, it was much better than where Julietta had been before.

Lucas led the three towards the factory, tapping lightly three times on the metal doors that guarded the entrance. A set of eyes appeared in an opening just below his eye level.

“Password?”

“Timothy Black.” Lucas answered. The door slid open, allowing passage to the factory.

“Lucas’s brother,” Marcie answered as she saw Julietta’s confused face. Julietta nodded and looked forward, following them into the building.

Inside the factory, Julietta could see at least a dozen other people sitting in their own groups throughout the main lobby. All of them were young, anywhere between 9 years old to 25, though most were in their mid teens.

At Lucas’s arrival, several of them looked up and waved, calling out a hello to Lucas. Lucas smiled and waved back, walking towards the back wall where a pile of crates stood. Stepping to the top, Lucas called out for the other members to gather.

As the groups rose and began to gather together, Julietta realized she had grossly underestimated their numbers. It had to be close to a hundred, if not more. She suddenly felt very small- If these people did turn out to be a threat, she doubted she could take on all of them at once.

“Friends and family,” Lucas began after they had gathered. “I’d like to introduce you to Julietta, our newest member.”

The crowd turned their eyes to Julietta, a wave of “welcome” and “hello”s filling the room.

“Julietta, step up please.”

Julietta nodded slightly, climbing up beside Lucas. “Tell them about yourself,” He told her softly.

“Julietta nodded, taking a deep breath as she looked upon the gathered crowd. “Hi,” She began. “I’m Julietta Johnson… I’m, um… thirteen years old, I think,” She said the last part to herself before raising her voice again, a little more confident. “I grew up outside the city, out in the woods,” She explained. “My parents were scientists.” She forced herself not to shake as she spoke of the horrid people in her life. “I’ve been living on my own for a few years now, outside the city.” She opted to skip most of the story, hoping nobody would question it. “It’s been hard, but… I’ve managed.” She finished.

“Julietta,” Lucas spoke now. “Let me be the first to tell you, we are all sorry for any of the bad you’ve gone through. Everybody here has suffered in some way- we all share your pain.” He turned to the crowd. “I expect all of you to treat Julietta with the same respect you give to anyone else here.” He said, waving a hand to dismiss them.

As the crowd dispersed, Lucas led Julietta down the crates and towards another room to the side. Multiple walls had been built out of wood here, contrasting with the concrete walls around them.

“This is one of the rooming areas we have,” Lucas explained. “I have some things to do, but Marcie can help you get settled. If you need anything, ask her, she’s second in command here.” He smiled, turning and waving to the two of them before vanishing through the doorway again.

“Follow me,” Marcie caught Julietta’s attention once more as she led her through a hallway between the many small wooden rooms. They came to a stop at one near the end, opening the door and entering. Inside was a single, twin sized mattress on the floor and a large crate beside it to act as a desk. A candle sat atop the crate, the only light source in the room.

“Here’s your new room,” Marcie explained. “The crate opens from the front, so you can store whatever you need in it. There's some matches inside already for the candle, and a blanket and pillow as well.”

Julietta nodded as she made a mental note of her words. “Thanks, Marcie,” Julietta stated without looking at her, instead walking towards the mattress and sitting down.

“You alright?” Marcie asked. “Sharing your story in front of everyone can be emotional, I know it was for me when I did it.”

“What is your story?”Julietta asked.

“Well…” Marcie hesitated for a moment. “I guess you’ll learn it from someone anyways, I might as well tell you.” She took a deep breath. “I was an unplanned baby, in the worst possible way. My mom was 23 when she had me- too young, according to her, to be having a child. But she wasn’t able to do anything about it. My father raped her- that’s how I was born.”

Julietta’s eyes widened, but she said nothing.

“My mom made it clear she didn’t want me. She mistreated me, beat me whenever I set a toe out of line, and I was lucky to get one meal a day. Eventually, when I was about 13, she kicked me out and told me to never come back. So I didn’t. I was on the streets for about two weeks before Lucas’s brother Timothy found me and took me in.”

Julietta nodded solemnly. “I’m… I’m sorry.” She said awkwardly.

“Don’t be,” Marcie shrugged. “I’ve moved past it, with the help of the Streets.” She patted Julietta’s shoulder softly. “And one day, you will too.”

Julietta nodded silently. The events of the day had exhausted her in both body and mind. Marcie seemed to notice this and stood, smiling at Julietta. “I’ll let you rest and get settled. Have a good night, Julietta.” She said softly before turning and heading out of the room.

Julietta sighed as Marcie left, stifling a yawn while standing and opening the crate beside the bed. She pulled out the pillow and blanket and laid them out on the bed. Glancing at the door, she took a few steps, closing and locking it before taking off her jacket for the first time in days.

She stretched her wings, several of the joints popping. She’d kept them in the same stiff, uncomfortable position for days now. Feels good to stretch again, She thought, allowing the wings to extend to full length. The tips of her feathers just brushed against the walls of the room before she pulled them back in.

Julietta turned towards the bed, climbing onto it and curling up under the blanket. The pillow was limp, with little form, but after living in a box for the last week, it was perfect.

\---

A loud knocking at the door awoke Julietta the next morning. Leaping out of bed, she grabbed her jacket and quickly covered her wings. The knocking continued loudly.

“One second!” She called as she hid the last of her feathers. As soon as she finished, she ran and unlocked the door. Lucas’s smiling face greeted her, and she gave him a small smile.

“Morning,” Lucas smiled back. “We’ve got something we’re doing today, head to the crates from last night, wait there for more instructions, kay?” He didn’t wait for a response as he headed down the hall to the next door. Pulling her jacket tighter around her, Julietta turned and walked towards the main lobby, eyes widening as she saw the already gathered people there. Clearly not everyone had been there last night, likely out on the streets doing their own thing. Even without everybody awake yet, there had to have been at least a hundred and fifty people.

Settling herself near the back of the crowd, a few people gave her a wave or a hello, welcoming her to the gang. She smiled and nodded in response to them, not speaking much.

It wasn’t long before Lucas came back into the room, having gathered everyone from the bedrooms. He stepped up on the crates, clearing his throat for silence.

“Streets! As you know, yesterday we welcomed Julietta into the gang,” He smiled as he saw her near the back. “Along with her, this month we’ve had three others join us. It is time for initiation.”

Julietta’s heart froze. Initiation? Was this some kind of cult? What have I gotten myself into?

“Kira, Julietta, Hugo, Lybia, please step forward.” Lucas called.

Julietta slowly pushed her way through the crowd as three other kids came forward as well. All three of them were young, around her age.

“The four of you will take part in the heist tonight,” Lucas told them. “We’ve been running low on resources, so tonight we will be robbing the bank down the road.”

One of the new girls spoke up. “Isn’t that wrong though?” She asked.

“In some cases, Kira,” Lucas agreed. “But we only take what we need to survive, and we never hurt anyone unless they attack us first. If all goes to plan, this will be a stealth mission, in and out easily.” He looked over the crowd. “Ashley, Elliot, Josh, Morgan, the four of you will come along as well. Marcie, you’ll stay here, you’ll be in charge while we’re gone.”

Marcie gave a firm nod. “Yes, sir!”

Kira still looked uncomfortable, fiddling with the grey scarf she was wearing. Another kid leaned over to her, patting her back.

“Don’t worry, Kira,” He said, pulling his headphones off of his head and setting them around his neck. “It’ll be okay. This is what we’ll have to do to survive here.”

Kira nodded silently, looking down at her boots.

Julietta looked at the last girl, Lybia, to see if she had anything to stay. But she was silent, simply looking up at Lucas, focused on his every word.

“Alright, those of you coming with us, follow me,” Lucas said. “The rest of you are dismissed.”

Lucas led the group towards the back room, where they sat around at a small table.

“Josh,” He said.. A skinny blonde boy snapped to attention. “You’ll be in charge of lookout. Lybia and Kira, you two will go with him. Elliot, Ashley,” A tall man with a clean beard and a wide set girl with long brown hair looked at him. “You two will lead Hugo as a diversion to draw away any attention should we get it. Hopefully it’ll be unnecessary. Morgan, Julietta, you two will be coming in with me.”

Julietta looked to the short, curly haired blonde girl as they shared a nod, then looked back to Lucas. “Like I said before, this is a stealth mission. We’ll make as little noise as possible and only take what we need and no more. We go tonight, after the bank closes.”

Kira raised her hand. “Um, what if we get caught?”

“That’s why we’re splitting up. If one group gets caught, the others come in for the rescue and we bail.” Lucan explained. Kira simply nodded, though she squirmed uncomfortably, her face showing her clear discomfort.

“Alright. Everyone rest up, eat, and save your energy. We leave at sunset.”

\---

Nine people huddled against the wall of a massive building, black masks donning each of their faces, and wearing dark clothing to blend with the shadows of the night. The clock on the front of the bank said 10pm--several hours after sunset. The bank had been a fair distance from the factory.

Lucas, in the center of the group, pointed at six of the group members, then to the back of the bank. The six of them nodded with varying degrees of eagerness before carefully heading towards the back, to a ladder that would take them to the roof.

Lucas then looked to the two still with him, Julietta and Morgan, and with a nod, turned and reached for the box on the wall behind them. The alarm system’s central control. Julietta had no idea what he was doing, but after a few minutes of fiddling with it, the light on it blinked out and Lucas turned, leading them to a nearby window. Taking a crowbar, he pried the window open, the lock cracking as it broke from the force of being lifted. He bent down and allowed Julietta and Morgan to climb on to him to reach, then carefully entered behind them.

Inside was a massive lobby, with the banking desks off to the side. Morgan was already on her way to the desks, so Julietta quickly jogged to catch up. Morgan opened the small swinging door into the desk areas, digging through the drawers until she smiled and pulled out a key. “Bingo,” She whispered. She tossed the key to Julietta, who caught it easily and headed towards the locked gate beside all the desks. Lucas and Morgan followed and watched with approval as she inserted the key, opening the gate and the massive metal door, then led the way through the hallway behind them. All three were on high alert for any kind of sound or alarm.

As they came to the end of the hallway, another massive metal door blocked them. The three of them each grabbed a part of the large wheel on the front of the door, and working together, turned the wheel until the door opened. Inside was a room lined with steel boxes, each one requiring a key to open.

Unless, of course, you were Lucas. Using the crowbar once more, he jammed it into the gap between the drawer and its box, prying it open. The inside was filled with tightly stacked bundles of dollar bills of all values. Lucas tossed the crowbar to Julietta as he began loading the money into his duffel bag.

Catching it, Julietta went to another box and repeated Lucas’s actions, prying it open and filling her bag as well. Morgan took the crowbar next and began filling from another box. Each person took turns until they each had two duffel bags full of dollar bills. Closing the drawers back again, they ran out of the room, closing the door and gate behind them and climbing out of the window once more.

Heading to the base of the ladder, Lucas gave a low whistle. A few heads popped over the edge of the building, and he waved them down. The group quickly slid down the ladder, Elliot having to catch Lydia as she fell from the middle. Lucas, Morgan, and Julietta quickly handed one of their two bags off to Ashley, Elliot, and Josh before they began to jog off at a brisk pace, heading towards the factory once more.

\---

“A successful heist!” Lucas announced as the gathered kids welcomed him and the group home. The teens cheered in joy as the group passed through, heading to the back room once more to count their haul. Kira, Julietta, Hugo, and Lydia were sent back to their rooms to sleep and let the others count. The four of them bid each other good night before splitting off to their rooms, each of them stifling yawns. It was nearing 1am, everyone was tired. The gathered crowd soon followed, and soon, the entirety of the gang was asleep, aside from the five in the back room counting the money.

Lucas announced the next day that they had gathered almost $80,000, enough to feed everyone for almost two months. Another heist wouldn’t be needed until the end of May, a good two months away, as long as they spent their money wisely. The Streets were thrilled at the news, glad to have their resources secured for at least the next few weeks.

“And with that success, we have four new members to properly welcome.” Lucas smiled, waving a hand towards the four young teens. Marcie stepped forward, in her hand a stack of bandannas.

“Each of us owns a bandanna to symbolize our loyalty.” The red head smiled. “After you’ve passed the initiation, you get your own, and officially become a member of the gang.” She approached Lydia first, handing her a slate blue bandanna, which matched perfectly with her outfit of solid greys and browns. She took it in one hand, tying it to her wrist easily before looking back up at Marcie with a simple nod.

The second bandanna was given to Hugo, his being a dark red, the same as his beanie that he never seemed to take off. He took it with both hands, tying it securely to his upper arm. The third was given to Kira, a purple that matched with the ends of her dyed hair. She grabbed it eagerly, smiling at it for a moment before sticking it in her back pocket, letting it hang out a little.

And finally, Julietta’s bandanna. Marcie handed her the last of the four, a deep royal blue. At closer look, Julietta could see white patterns curling around the edges of it. She allowed a faint smile as she looked up at Marcie once more. “Thank you,” She whispered, reaching up and tying the bandanna around her neck, where it hung freely.

As Marcie stepped back, Lucas once more waved his hand to the teens. “The newest members of the Black Streets!” He announced. The Streets members all roared and cheered their approval, cheering the names of the newest people to join their family.


	6. Chapter 6 - A Royal Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Streets aren't the only gang in Oakland.

The days blurred into weeks as Julietta slowly grew used to the Streets and their way of life. Every day, they’d wake up early, scrounge up food to save their money, and walk through the city in search of any other children in need of help. In the months that passed, Julietta felt like she really was doing something good. She was saving kids off the streets, from the suffering that she’d endured for only a week, but that they’ve known for months.

Marcie also had grown to be a close friend of Julietta’s, as the 18-year-old girl had begun teaching Julietta the things she hadn’t learned for herself as a child. Reading, writing, basic schooling skills that her parents had failed to provide for her. While she struggled to grasp many of the concepts, she was appreciative of the help, even if she didn’t always show it.

“Focus, Julietta!” Marcie’s voice cut into her thoughts. Julietta yawned and rolled her eyes, staring down at her paper with a bored expression.

“I just don’t see the use of this,” She muttered. “How will this math ever be helpful for me?”

“Trust me, it might be one day.” Marcie replied. “This isn’t even the useless stuff they teach in schools, this is, like, basic 4th grade stuff.”

“And I never even went to school, so none of this is basic to me,” Julietta retorted, crossing her arms.

Marcie rolled her eyes, placing the tip of her pencil on her paper once more. “Just focus, alright? We’re almost done.”

Julietta snorted, but obeyed anyways, moving to the next question written on the paper.

\---

“So, the Royals are around here somewhere?”

Kira’s voice cut through the heavy silence, and everyone in the group sent a glare at her as they snuck through the alleyways. “Sorry!” She squeaked, shrinking down in embarrassment as her face flushed bright red.

Elliot sighed as he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. “Yes, this is Royal’s territory. We just have to pass through here to the other side and we’ll be safe, but until then, stay quiet.”

The group was on a supply run, heading towards the other side of the city. There was a large grocery store there, the only one that had the items they needed to buy, but they had to go through another gang’s territory to get there. The Royals, Julietta thought with a snarl on her face. The same gang that killed Timothy years ago. Though she had never known him, she had heard plenty of stories from his brother and the others who had been around back then.

A voice snapped her out of her thoughts, this one new.

“Oh that won’t be necessary.” It said in response to Elliot.

Julietta’s head snapped up as she heard this unfamiliar voice. Standing at the end of the alley was a tall man, likely in his mid twenties, with a short buzz cut and a crowbar in hand. Two others stood on each side of him, all men around the same age. 

“To what do we owe the pleasure, Black Streets?” The man spoke again. “You seem to be in our territory. Again.” His eyes flashed dangerously. “If you recall, last time I caught one of you here, your precious leader ended up dying. It’d be a shame if that happened again.” He looked down at his crowbar casually as he spoke, and each of the men beside him raised their own weapon of some sort. Two had pipes, another had a crowbar as well, and the last carried a knife. Julietta’s eyes widened as she realized. This is the man who killed Timothy?

“We don’t want any trouble,” Elliot said calmly, raising his arm to hold back any of his group who might attack. Julietta could see it was taking all of his own strength to hold himself back. Elliot clearly wanted to hurl himself at this man and make him pay for what he’d done to the Streets.

“Oh, you brought trouble upon yourselves when you set foot in our territory.” The man laughed. “But don’t worry. We’ll take your remains back to your home when we go there to tear it all down.”

With a flick of his wrist, the four men charged forward, weapons raised and ready.

“Everyone back!” Elliot yelled, pulling out a knife from his pocket. Julietta ignored his order as she leapt, landing squarely on the man with a knife and delivering a hard punch to his gut. He doubled over, eyes widening at her strength as the wind was knocked out of him, before the spun and delivered a swift kick to his groin. He fell over onto the ground, clutching his lower body as he whimpered in pain.

Turning, Julietta could see the fight was in full swing. Elliot faced off against the leader, who swung his crowbar like a battle axe at his face. Elliot managed to dodge, but his glasses came flying off of his head as he was suddenly lurched to the side, the larger Royal having kicked out his feet from under him. Julietta prepared to leap in to help when a swift blow to the head blackened her vision for a moment. She spun just in time to see one of the pipe-wielding men bringing his arm up for a second blow, one that would have easily knocked her out cold had she not leapt to the side just in time. She felt the woosh of air as the pipe passed just by her head, and she used her momentum to spring back up and tacked the man as hard as she could.

The man’s head slammed the pavement as he fell, and Julietta followed it up with a series of punches, pummeling his face from two sides. His head whipped back and forth as he struggled beneath her, but to no avail- His eyes had swollen and blackened, and he could hardly even see now.

With one last wind up, Julietta sent a devastating punch to the man’s nose, which cracked under her force. His head tilted back as he finally lost consciousness. Nodding in satisfaction, she turned back to Elliot, only to see he had the Royal pinned and his knife jabbed into the leader’s shoulder. He seemed like he was doing good on his own, so Julietta turned to the others.

Morgan and Josh worked together to confuse the other pipe wielding man, while Lybia and another girl named Stephanie were just sending the second crowbar-holding man running to the hills.

Elliot pulled the knife from the leader’s shoulder, holding it to his throat. “Let. Us. Pass.” He said slowly and dangerously. The Royal’s eyes simply widened and he nodded slightly. Elliot stepped off of him, and with one last furious glare, the man climbed to his knees and limped behind a building and out of sight.

“Everyone okay?” Josh asked, having chased off the man he and Morgan had been fighting.

“I think so,” Stephanie replied, glancing around at everyone.

“Wait,” Julietta paused. “Where’s Kira?”

Everyone froze and looked around, panic beginning to rise until a little voice came from behind a nearby dumpster. “Here!”

Moving towards it, Julietta looked behind the green metal container to see Kira curled up sheepishly into a ball. “Sorry, I’m just no good at fighting. I’d have gotten in the way,” She explained.

Julietta rolled her eyes, holding out a hand and lifting the young girl to her feet. “You’ll never get better if you don’t practice,” She stated bluntly, turning before Kira could respond. “Alright, now we have everyone.” She looked at Elliot pointedly. “Are we good to go?”

Elliot nodded. “Alright, lets go.”

\---

After the adrenaline and excitement from the fight, Julietta found herself slightly disappointed when they returned to their own territory with no trouble at all. Next time, they’ll pay. She assured herself. Her arms felt sore from the fight, but she had suffered from worse, so she didn’t say anything as they arrived back at the factory. 

Julietta dropped off her load of supplies by the crates with the others, then bid the team good night as she retreated to her room. She wanted nothing more than to sleep. Wasting no time in getting to her bed, she locked her door and tore off her hoodie, stretching. Her wings had grown- far too large now to stretch to their full length in the small room. She had taken to tying them with spare cloth in order to keep them hidden, and had to buy a much larger hoodie now to cover them all the way. But thankfully, nobody had noticed them yet. I haven’t flown in so long, She mused. I need to get some more flight in if I’m gonna keep my wings strong, but... She looked to the door. How on earth will I do that with so many people in the city?

She shrugged to herself, climbing into bed as she curled up tight. She would figure it out another time. For now, sleep awaited her.

\---

It was one week since the supply run. Nothing of note happened, at least nothing to Julietta. She had stuck close inside the Streets’ territory since the fight with the Royals. Not out of fear, but out of command from Lucas, who wanted to ensure those involved in the fights had time to recover and wouldn’t strain themselves by jumping into another brawl. 

That certainly hadn’t stopped the Royals, though. After their loss against Julietta and her group, they’d become even more vicious and relentless, attacking any Streets members they saw, no questions asked. Many came back from patrols bruised and bleeding, and others with broken bones. Lucas was getting more and more angry every passing day, but without any way to predict the Royals movements, they were only able to play defense.

“I’m sick of this…” Marcie muttered during one of her and Julietta’s teaching sessions.

“Me too,” Julietta threw her pencil down, scowling at the history book she was hunched over. “Why do I even need to know about this Steve Rogers dude? He’s like a hundred years old by now.”

“First of all, he’s only like seventy. Second of all, if you’d actually read, you’d see he was frozen in ice and didn't age. And third of all, that’s not even what I was talking about.” Marcie sighed. “I’m talking about the Royals. We can’t keep just defending ourselves forever. We need to attack at some point.”

“Then why don’t we?” Julietta asked.

“Because they outnumber us,” Marcie hunched over, burying her face in her hands. “And as much as I hate to admit it, they know how to fight better than us. We’re just a group of teenagers, the Royals are full of adults who know how to break every bone in your body with their eyes closed.”

Julietta sneered, scowling down at the book. “Why don’t these ‘Avengers’ come in and help us?” She remarked. “You’d think they’d actually do something to help us little guys.”

“They’re too busy stopping alien invasions in New York to help us, I guess.” Marcie shrugged. “Whatever the case may be, we’re on our own here. Come on, focus on the lesson.”

“You’re the one who distracted me in the first place,” Julietta snarked, but humour glinted in her eyes. Marcie rolled her eyes, instead continuing writing on the paper she had in front of her. Julietta gave a snort, but looked back down at the book, picking up where she’d left off.

\---

The year came to an end, and the new year began. Those who could drink in the group were celebrating, wishing everyone a happy 2015. Julietta had no interest in the parties. She had taken to spending more and more time outside as the days passed, and the weather warmed. What she really wanted was to go out for a flight, but with so many people out and about on such a beautiful day, chances were she’d be spotted. So she walked down the street with her hands in her pockets, and head down. 

She looked at her feet, twiddling with the small pocket knife she kept for protection. Lucas had insisted everyone get one- and know how to use it- after a week of the Royal’s attacks, so that they’d always have a weapon on hand. It had cut into their budget, another heist had been needed, but it was worth it for the protection. 

As Julietta turned away from the shops, heading back to the factory, a figure running towards her made her stop, her hand holding the pocket knife in case it was an attacker. Instead, as she came in to focus, Julietta saw it was just Kiya. What shocked her, however, was the pure terror on the girls face.

“Julietta!” Kiya screamed, turning the heads of a few people crazy enough to be on the street in this cold.

“Kiya, what’s wrong?” Julietta asked, tapping her foot impatiently as Kiya struggled to catch her breath.

“Royals… factory… attack…” Kiya managed to choke out, her hands on her knees as she breathed heavily.

Julietta’s eyes widened for a split second before she dashed away, running faster than she ever had in her life. The Royals are attacking the factory? She thought. How? How had they even found it? Nobody knew the Streets stayed in that factory- they took great care to stay hidden.

Shaking the thought from her head, Julietta burst from the city buildings to the shoreline, where gunshots rang through the air. Without missing a beat, she pulled out her knife and charged, crashing through the factory door. The scent of blood and metal struck her like a fist to the face, which she actually felt not moments after entering. She pulled her knife up to defend herself, only to pause as she saw it was Marcie. Marcie seemed to recognize her at the same moment, her hands covering her mouth. “Julietta! I’m so sorry, oh thank god you’re here!” She took Julietta’s hands, holding them between her own. “We need your help, the Royals are trying to get into the storage and steal everything. You need to head them off. I’ll grab some others and we’ll meet you there, okay?”

Julietta nodded wordlessly, turning and running through the crowd. Most of the Royals were already fighting someone else, not interested in the small girl running through the battlefield.

There! Julietta thought as she slowed a bit, approaching the group of Royals attempting to bust down a metal door. It was by far the most secure door in the factory, but against these guys? It wouldn’t hold for much longer.  
“Hey assholes!” Julietta yelled, catching their attention. They turned to look down at her, grinning.

“What, is this the best the Streets have left?” The left one teased, lifting a pipe in his hand.

The right one followed suit, raising a knife of his own and holding it lazily, as if he expected no challenge. The middle one though, he reached onto his back and pulled over a large gun, aiming it between the young girl’s eyes. Julietta’s breath froze. Oh no…

Before she could even react, the gun was fired. Straight for her head.

And the bullet bounced right off her skin, leaving it only slightly discolored. Julietta flinched at the pain, but glared daggers into the men’s eyes. “Yeah. That’s not gonna work with me.”  
The men stepped back warily, confused as to how this girl wasn’t dead. The left one charged, but Julietta managed to duck just in time from his weapon, only to be kicked in the back by the right one. The center man smirked, raising his gun and firing once more. But just like last time, it bounced off of her arm, only leaving a bruise. 

Thevknifed man swung his hand forward, catching Julietta across her ribcage as she rolled over, but the knife simply slid across her skin and even bent a little bit. “Damn you!” The man cursed, tossing the knife aside and gripping Julietta by the throat before she could fight back. He lifted her up, slamming her against the wall as she struggled to grip his hands and pull them away.

Julietta felt her lungs fail to fill as she choked for air, her movements becoming weaker by the second. She scratched and clawed, her hands drawing blood on the man’s arms, but he didn’t let go of her.

And suddenly, he dropped, and the pressure around Julietta’s throat vanished. She collapsed to the ground, coughing and gasping as her lungs were filled with cold, life-giving oxygen.

Julietta looked up as she tried to refocus on her surroundings. A dark hand was reaching out to her, and she took it without hesitation.

“Thanks, Lucas,” She managed to choke out hoarsely, her throat aching from the effort of speech.

“Thank me later,” Lucas said grimly, turning to the two other men. Stephanie and Marcie were keeping them busy, and with a nod to each other, Julietta and Lucas launched into battle beside them. Gunshots rang through the air all around them, and Julietta hardly managed to not flinch each time, forcing memories of her pack down back into her mind. Later, She told herself. I can reminisce later. 

With her knife pulled out, she swung low at the man with the gun, slicing in to his upper leg. He grunted with pain as he flipped his gun around, slamming the butt of it into Julietta’s forhead. She saw stars in her eyes as she tried to regain her balance, and felt a force beside her hold her up.

“Thanks, Hannah,” She said to the girl beside her, who smiled brightly before running off to help another Streets member.

More gunshots. More punches. More blood. Julietta was scarcely aware of the world around her as she narrowed in on the two men attacking her friends. With a roar, she threw herself at the gunned man, tearing the gun from his hands. The strap wrapped around his shoulder was pulled taut as, with a groan of effort, Julietta ripped the gun from the strap and pointed it at the man’s chest. He didn’t even have time to open his mouth before the bullet flew from the barrel into his body, and he collapsed to the ground. 

She grimaced as she tossed the gun aside. I hate those things, She thought as she turned, seeing the last man had already been knocked out by the others. The three of them turned and gave her a thumbs up before they all separated, running once more into the fight behind them.

Julietta followed behind them, her arms pumping at her sides as she dropped underneath a punch and retaliated with an uppercut of her own. Her attacker was sent into the air and crashed to the ground, unconscious.

A nearby shout for help caught her attention, and she turned around to see Marcie and Lucas fighting against three Royals- all of them pointing guns at the leaders. Without stopping to catch her breath, Julietta ran as fast as she could. Time seemed to slow as she approached.

The men aimed the guns and pulled the trigger. Julietta leapt at the same moment, her body flying in front of her friends. The bullets ripped into her clothing, tearing apart the cloth, but left nothing but bruises on her skin. She hit the ground hard as time seemed to return to normal once more, managing to roll and leap to her feet once more.

The three Royals looked at her in shock, but Marcie and Lucas rushed to her side, thinking she had been shot to death. Their eyes widened when they didn’t see a single drop of blood on her body. “J-Julietta, are you okay?” Marcie stammered, looking her over.

Julietta lightly shoved her aside. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Go help the others!”

The two nodded. “We’ll talk later,” Lucas promised before the two drew their knives once more and ran at the Royals. Julietta followed behind them, her pocket knife in hand. The Royals aimed their guns once more, but with how the Streets zig zagged as they ran, they couldn’t get a clear shot.

With a massive leap, Julietta tackled one of the men at full speed. He crashed to the ground with a grunt, and Julietta took the chance to drive her pocket knife into his shoulder. He roared in pain, trying to throw her off, but she held strong, driving the knife into his stomach, then his other arm, and then his neck. He finally grew still as the light faded from his eyes. She pulled her knife back, wiping the blood off on her coat before they turned towards Lucas and Marcie.

Just in time to see the gun be fired.

The bullet struck Lucas’s chest, straight in the heart.

“Lucas!!” Julietta screamed, rushing to his side. Marcie’s scream echoed hers, and she collapsed beside her, throwing her knife to the side and holding Lucas’s body close.

Neither of them watched the Royals, who came up behind them and grabbed them by the throats.

The men hefted them up, both girls struggling against their grips. Holding her knife tight, Julietta plunged it into the man’s arm, who screamed and released her, clutching the wound tightly. He looked back up and glared at her, drawing his pistol once more and firing a shot. Julietta managed to roll to the side just in time, leaping and delivering a punch to the man’s stomach. He dropped his gun as he doubled over, coughing, and Julietta delivered a knee to his face. His nose cracked as he fell backwards, unconscious.

Julietta turned back to Marcie just as the man holding her tossed her to the side. A trickle of blood ran from her mouth down her chin.

“NO!” Julietta’s voice cracked as her vision began to turn red. “Marcie!” Her voice changed from sad to furious as her eyes turned to the man who had killed her.

The red haze around her eyes narrowed in on the man. He charged at the same time she did, his gun drawn. She leapt to the side, but he reached out with a hand, grabbing her jacket and tearing it off of her. She stumbled as she lost her balance, and the man took the chance to deliver a swift kick to her back, causing her to fall on her face. She heard him raise his gun and rolled just as the bullet embedded itself in the ground where she had been only moments before.

Pushing herself up, Julietta gave another scream of rage. A tearing sound filled her ears as she suddenly realized.

Her jacket was off. Her wings were exposed.

And the cloth she tied them down with had ripped.

She didn’t care though. All bets were off. This man would pay for killing Marcie and Lucas.

Giving her wings a few flaps, she rose to the air, the man looking at her in shock. The sounds of the fight grew quiet as all eyes turned on her. She didn’t care. She didn’t take her eyes off of this man in front of her. 

And with a scream, she dove at him, tucking into a ball and kicking her legs into his face. He stumbled back, clutching his nose, and she took the chance to drive the knife in her hand into the side of his neck. A gurgling escaped his mouth before he dropped to the ground, dead.

The red in her vision didn’t fade though. With a guttural growl, she rose to the air again and dove at another Royal. This one fell to her knife just like the other. That was what it took for the others to snap into action, bullets flying at her, but all bouncing off of her skin.

She dove and landed in the middle of the crowd, crouching low and spreading her wings, she spun quickly, knocking out the men’s legs. Other Streets leapt in, hitting the men hard in the heads as one by one they fell unconscious. 

And within minutes, it was done.

Dead and unconscious teens and adults scattered around the room. Blood covered the floor, the walls, and the bodies.

That was the last thing Julietta saw as the red haze faded, and she collapsed to the ground, the distant sound of police sirens filling her mind before the world faded to black.


	7. Chapter 7 - Moving Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julietta wakes up... and immediately wishes she was still asleep.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The incessant beeping was the first thing Julietta noticed as she came to.

“-teen hours? That’s longer than the others have been out, but she has the least amount of injuries.”

“Is nobody talking about the fact that she’s got wings?”

“Yes, we discussed it already, and we’re going to ask her when she comes to.”

The voices were the second.

The third was the feeling of a slightly uncomfortable mattress underneath her.

“You know,” Julietta muttered, and the voices stopped. “Just because you ask me doesn’t mean I’ll tell you.” She hadn’t opened her eyes yet, but her brow furrowed.

“She's awake!”

“Get a doctor.”

“And an officer!”

“You get either of those in here and I will slice all of your throats.” Julietta hissed, finally opening her eyes to find she was in a small hospital room. Three nurses stared at her with various expressions. The girl on the left looked scared, the middle man was curious, and the rightmost girl was shocked.

“Ma’am, we’re just trying to help.” The man spoke calmly.

“Save it,” Julietta growled out. Her throat was dry and hoarse, she could hardly speak. One of the nurses seemed to notice and grabbed a plastic cup, filling it with water and holding it out to her. Julietta eyed it warily before slowly taking it, taking a tiny sip. Her eyes widened as she realized how thirsty she was, and she greedily drank the rest,not letting a single drop of water escape. She muttered a soft ‘thank you’ before handing the cup back and looking at the nurses once more. “Where am I?” She demanded.

“The hospital,” The male nurse answered gently. “Someone heard the gunshots and called the police, but when we arrived the fight was over.” He turned and grabbed a clipboard, holding up a pen. “If you would, we have a few questions.”

“I’m not answering shit for you.” Julietta scowled.

“Ma’am, we only want to help.”

“Then let me go and you’ll never have to see me again. Win-win situation.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Not like you can stop me.” Julietta pushed herself up, but the fierce pain that wracked her body made her fall back onto the bed. She gave a grunt as the nurse rolled his eyes. “I don’t think we’ll be needing to.” He said. Gesturing to the other nurses, they exited the room, and a doctor and police officer entered in their place.

“Oh great,” Julietta muttered. “Now’s where I’m gonna be told I’m going to jail?”

The officer shook his head. “It depends on what you tell me.” He said sternly, pulling up a chair to sit down on. The doctor held a clipboard, presumably the one the nurse had been holding, and held a pen at the ready.

“Like I said before, I’m not telling you anything.” Julietta scowled. “I don’t trust any of you.”

“Be that as it may,” The doctor spoke. “The fact of the matter is that you’re injured and stuck here for the time being. If you want to get out of here faster, you need to tell us what happened so we know how to treat you.”

“How about this,” The officer spoke. “You answer one of our questions, and we’ll answer one of yours.”

“I don’t even want to know anything from you.” Julietta narrowed her eyes. The officer’s face fell as he leaned back.

“Look girl, we just want to help. If you’re intent on not getting any better, you can sit here and suffer.”

The three fell into awkward silence before the doctor excused herself, saying she had other patients to tend to. She left the clipboard on the counter across from the bed and exited the room.

A few minutes later, Julietta finally spoke.

“Julietta.”

“What?” The officer looked up from his phone.

“My name. Julietta Johnson. Figured you’d need to know that.”

The officer smiled and nodded, walking over and writing it on the clipboard.

“Age?” He asked.

Julietta paused for a moment before answering. “Fifteen.”

The officer wrote that as well. “Julietta, can you please explain what happened?”

Her eyes darkened as she looked down at her hands, twiddling her thumbs silently. “The Royals happened.” She muttered. 

“Yes, the gang. We found a lot of their members. But why did they attack you? Were you in a gang?”

Julietta nodded. “The Black Streets. We were rivals of sorts, though we never did anything as bad as the Royals.” She explained. “We were mostly just… outcasts. Kids, teens, kicked out from home or abused until we left.”

The officer’s eyes softened as he realized what that meant for Julietta, writing down the information on the paper. “And, I guess the elephant in the room. Your wings.”

Julietta’s eyes instantly hardened as she instinctively tucked her wings closer into herself. “That is something I won’t share any time soon.”

The officer sighed. “Look girl, according to the doctors, your biology is different from anything they’ve ever seen. They couldn’t even get a needle into your skin to draw blood because your skin was so hard- they had to get spit samples instead. Whatever you are, they can’t treat you until they know.”

Julietta paused at this. The faster I get healed, the faster I can get out of here… She thought.

“My parents were scientists.” She finally admitted. “And when I was developing, they did experiments on me. Worked for some place called HYDRA, I think.” The officer stiffened at the mention, his eyes widening a bit, but Julietta wasn’t looking at him. “They spliced my DNA and stuff, I dunno. I escaped when I was nine. But whatever they did gave me some other animal’s DNA, so I got wings and thick skin. Happy?”

The officer finally finished writing the information down before nodding. “Thank you, Julietta.” He said with a smile, though it was forced. “A doctor will check in on you soon.” He took the clipboard and left, leaving Julietta alone, with only the beeping machines for company.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep…  
\---  
Julietta didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, but she was awoken to the sound of the door opening. She sat up slowly, leaning against the pillows and gritting her teeth to hide her pain. She heard two sets of footsteps, and soon saw as the doctor and a new man entered the room. He was a tall, dark skinned bald man. The strangest thing about him, though, was his eyepatch.

Julietta narrowed her eyes at the man as he sat on a char at the end of the bed. “Julietta, I assume.” He stated. Julietta didn’t reply.

The man waved the doctor away, and she nodded and left the room. The two of them sat in silence for a moment before the man spoke again.

“I’m going to assume you don’t know who I am. My name is Nick Fury.”

“Means nothing to me.” Julietta responded coldly.

“I don’t expect it to. Homeless teens don’t tend to keep up with the government’s activity.”

This caught Julietta’s attention. “So you work for the government. Not here to whisk me away and give me some cool job, I’m guessing.” She sneered.

Nick gave a dry laugh. “No, of course not.” He leaned forward, his face suddenly serious. “I’d like you to tell me what you know about HYDRA.”

Julietta looked at him in confusion. “I… Don’t know anything.” She said honestly. “Aside from the fact that they funded my parents' experiments for some reason.”

Nick’s eye narrowed. “And that’s all you know?”

“Yes, that’s all.” Julietta rolled her eyes. “I never really thought it was important, I was too young to know much of what was going on.”

Nick nodded, looking down at the phone in his hands and making a note. “Julietta, I have a proposition for you.”

Julietta narrowed her eyes. “What?” She asked cautiously.

“I have a few friends who I think you’d be interested in meeting, considering your… abilities.”

“Abilities? Hmph, like my strength and skin and wings.”

“Exactly. I think it’d be a great idea for you to move in with them.”

Julietta couldn’t hold back the laugh. “Ha! Wow, that’s funny! As if I’d abandon the Black Streets and leave them to fend for themselves while I went to some government base? No thanks, I’m good.”

“Julietta,” Nick said when she had finished. “The Streets are all but gone. Very few members survived the attack.”

“Well if that’s the case, I need to stay behind and help them rebuild before the Royals take all our territory.”

Nick let out a frustrated sigh. “You’re missing the point here, Julietta. Those who survived are being arrested as soon as they can step out of the hospital. All of them have robbed or killed or committed some kind of crime, they’re all going on trial. What I’m offering you is a chance to avoid that.”

“If my pack goes down, I go down with them.” Julietta said with a growl. “My mind won’t change.”

“You want to help them?”

Julietta stopped. “Of course, they’re my family.”

“What I’m suggesting, Julietta, helping SHIELD track down HYDRA.”

Julietta glared daggers at the man. “And why should I? HYDRA hasn’t been an issue for me for years.”

“Maybe not for you,” Nick replied. “But for others, they certainly have. Thousands have died at their hands, Julietta, and we need to stop them. Your unique skill set would help, as well as a possible knowledge of their plans.”

“Unique skill set. You mean my ability to not die when I’m shot in the face.” She rolled her eyes. “You want to use me, Nick, it’s clear as day. You don’t give a shit about me.”

Nick leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “Julietta, what if I could guarantee the entirety of the Black Streets got off scott free, with a promise of government aid and protection?”

This gave Julietta pause. “You can do that?”

“I can. I have some friends in high places, so to speak.”

Julietta fell silent as she contemplated. “They’ll be safe? No criminal charges, a good shelter and food?”

“Guaranteed.” Nick responded. “They’ll be well taken care of.”

“They better be.” Julietta nodded. “Fine, I’ll join your little group.”

Nick gave her a look. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you to respect your elders?”

Julietta rolled her eyes. “I respect those who earn it, Nick. Take care of my family, then we can talk. Otherwise, you’re just another person to me.”

Nick snorted and stood. “Once you’re recovered, I’ll send a plane to take you to one of our facilities. You can learn more there.”

Julietta nodded wordlessly as Nick left, feeling the energy drain from her body as she collapsed backwards on her bed. My family… will be safe. She thought. That’s what matters.  
\---  
Three days later, the nurse had entered, telling Julietta she was being moved to a new facility. He wouldn’t answer where exactly- he couldn’t. She had been allowed to walk by herself, despite her pain, but her bruises had now almost faded. That didn’t stop the ache in her body from wracking her nerves with agony, though.

Reluctantly letting the nurse steady her, she was led out of the hospital towards the roof, where a large plane was coming in for a landing. A large logo was plastered to the side, a black eagle inside of a circle.

As the wind from the engines died down, the door slid open, allowing a woman with red braided hair to step out. She held up a badge to the nurse, and he nodded as he allowed Julietta to step forward.

The engines had slowed enough to allow them to speak. “Julietta, this is Natasha.” The nurse said. “I was told she was coming to pick you up.”

Julietta nodded, watching the woman cautiously. She could practically feel the strength radiating from her- this was not someone whose bad side she wanted to be on, unless she had a death wish.

“Nice to meet you, Natasha.” Julietta held out a hand, which Natasha grasped firmly and gave it a single shake.

“Likewise,” Natasha said cooly, letting her hand drop to her side again. “Thank you for your cooperation, nurse. We’ll be taking her from here.”

“Glad to help,” The nurse replied, giving a nod to Julietta before turning back down the stairs and into the hospital once more.

“Alright, load in.” Natasha said as she, too, turned, heading for the plane. Julietta followed, stepping carefully inside and getting seated in one of the slightly uncomfortable seats in the back. Julietta watched as Natasha flipped a few switches with practiced ease, and the vehicle roared to life. “Make sure you’re buckled, kid!” Natasha called over the roar, and Julietta only replied with a nod, grabbing the seatbelts and quickly strapping in.

A headset flew onto the seat beside her from the front, and Julietta looked up to see Natasha pointing at her own on her head. Getting the idea, Julietta placed the headset on her head, and the sound of the engine faded into the background.

“Can you hear me?” Natasha’s voice came from the headset.

“Yeah, I can.” Julietta replied, gazing out the window as Natasha slowly brought the chopper up from the roof. The teen watched in awe, murmuring under her breath, “How does this thing even fly…”

If Natasha heard, she didn’t answer, instead letting the plane rise over the buildings around them. The chopper began to turn, headed southwest if Julietta’s internal compass was correct.

“Where are we even going?” Julietta asked as they began to leave the city behind. 

“That’s technically classified.” Natasha replied. “But I can tell you, it's a training facility of sorts.”

“Training?” Julietta tilted her head in confusion. “For what?”

“You’ll see,” Natasha answered, prompting a slight groan from Julietta.

“Should have expected a bunch of secrecy from a government organization,” She huffed, crossing her arms.

“Just settle in and be patient,” Natasha sent her a look. “We’ll be there soon enough.”

Julietta rolled her eyes, leaning her shoulder against the window. It felt so strange to be so high up, and yet have her wings being covered by clothing. The clean clothes that the hospital had given her were much too big, but that suited her just fine. Easier to hide my wings, She thought to herself, though she didn’t doubt Natasha knew about them.

Julietta had lost count of the clouds they passed as they flew, having been trying to find a way to pass the time. She didn’t particularly feel like speaking to the woman in front of her. The silence was broken by Natasha’s voice as they passed a line of trees, and the ground below them opened up. A long building covered a large portion of the open area, while the rest consisted of an open field and a cement platform. The plane began to lose altitude as Natasha flew downwards, bringing the plane to a clean landing on the platform.

Several people wearing uniforms stepped forward, helping Natasha and Julietta out of the plane while others towed the plane away towards a nearby garage. Natasha waved them away as soon as they were out, and gestured to Julietta for her to follow.

“So now where are we going?” Julietta asked, with a bit more force than she meant to.

“You’ll see,” Natasha sent her a small glare, but it was enough to keep the teen quiet as they walked the halls.

They finally turned into a room, which Julietta recognized easily.

“Another hospital?!” She exclaimed.

“Not for too long,” Nat shrugged. “Just for evaluation, to make sure you’re healthy.”

“I can tell you that myself, thanks. I am healthy.”

“The doctors can be the judge of that.” Natasha grabbed Julietta’s shoulder, forcing her to sit on one of the infirmary beds. “Stay here.” She didn’t elaborate as she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Julietta to wonder what in the world she had gotten herself into.  
\---  
Julietta had been sitting in the bed for nearly an hour, flipping her knife in and out, when the door opening caught her attention. She sat up in the bed, noticing a man entering the room. He wore a white coat and held a few papers in his hand. Another doctor, She inwardly sighed.

“Julietta?” He asked her, and she nodded in confirmation. “I’m Dr. Jaiden Wood. I’m here to evaluate you.”

“So you’re a therapist.”

“I’m a psychiatrist.” He corrected her. “But if therapy is what you want, I’m sure I can help.”

“It’s the last thing I want.” Julietta spat, venom dripping from her voice.

The doctor didn’t even flinch at her words, instead pulling up a nearby chair. “You hold such a hatred for me, and yet you hardly know me. Why?”

Julietta scoffed. “Maybe cause I don’t know who you are, I don’t know where I am, and most of my family was just brutally murdered less than a week ago.” Her eyes were like tiny slits as she glared at the doctor. “So I apologize if I’m not in the most cooperative mood.” Her voice was laced with sarcasm and anger.

The doctor still did not flinch, despite her ranting. When she had finished, he took a deep breath. “You’ve been through a lot, Julietta.” he began. “But you’re safe here. This hostility will get you nowhere.”

“I don’t have anywhere I’m trying to go,” Julietta responded icely. “Except back to sleep.”

Jaiden set the papers to the side as he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “I’m sure you’ve heard this a hundred times by now,” He said. “But we can’t help you if you don’t cooperate.”

“What do I even need ‘help’ with?” She demanded. “I’m almost healed from the fight. If anything, Nick asked me to come here to help you guys.”

“It’s a mutual relationship.” Jaiden told her. “You were recruited to help SHIELD, and in return SHIELD is providing you food, shelter, and training.”

“Training for what, exactly?” Julietta asked. “And what even is SHIELD? I haven’t gotten any information from anybody since I met Nick three days ago, the only things I know are from outdated history books.”

“SHIELD is a government agency,” Jaiden explained. “Dedicated to keeping the peace in America and providing aid.”

“Yeah, you sure do a damn good job of that,” Julietta muttered.

“They can’t help everyone, you know.” Jaiden replied. “SHIELD has to handle the biggest issues first, which include alien invasions and superhumans.” His lips curved into an amused smirk. “There seems to be a lot of those around, doesn’t there.”

Knowing he was referring to her, Julietta sent him a glare. “Yes. And I assume Nick wants me to join his little club. Go stop threats and save the world.” She rolled her eyes. “Sorry, I’d rather help those who really need it, like, oh I don’t know, a gang of abused kids on the streets?”

The doctor’s smile fell. “Julietta, I understand you don’t trust me. But at the very least, you could respect those who want to help.”

“Like I told Fury- I respect those who earn my respect. Maybe do something worthwhile and help someone, instead of sitting in this facility talking to teenagers.”

The doctor took a deep breath, then stood, grabbing the papers from the desk and turning. “I think that will be all.” Was all he said before he turned and left. He passed a word to a soldier near the door, and Julietta suddenly realized. A guard. She thought. They think I’m a threat. She didn’t get a good look at the guard before the door shut, but from what she saw, she figured she could probably beat him if she had to fight. And I won’t hesitate to, She thought grimly.

Julietta leaned back in the bed, her body still aching. With a slightly pained effort, she managed to pull the thin sheets over her, closing her eyes. She was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter of my first ever fanfic series, Gryphon's Landing! This story will update once a week, so make sure to follow along!


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